Credit Cards are a hot subject area on Betterborrowing.co.uk. If there was ever an area in personal finance where you can either save lots of money or waste lots of money, then credit cards is that. People use credit cards for a variety of different reasons and there are hundreds of cards provided by a mix of companies like Visa, Barclaycard and MBNA. For example you may not like to carry cash around your pocket so a credit card is a great solution.

When it comes to using credit cards a degree of planning and care is certainly required if you are to get the best value for money. Some people like to make use of the interest free period of borrowing that all credit cards provide - by planning your spend carefully you could have up to 50 or 60 days of interest free borrowing before your next monthly payment is due.

Credit cards also provide a level of insurance against faulty products or rogue traders, but don;t forget that credit cards offer some protection by default, without the need for additional, chargeable schemes. Other people appreciate the ability to use credit cards abroad whilst on holiday or away on business, but make sure you understand the charges that may be applied for transactions. The area where big savings can be made is by reducing the amount of interest charged on outstanding balances, and usually that means paying off debts on time and as early as possible once charges start to be applied. We'll keep you abreast of all the latest deals for 0% balance transfer deals and zero interest on purchases offers. Credit card deals are changing all the time so don't assume you have the best deal if you haven;t checked for a while.

So just how do you find the best credit card deal available? And which is the best one for me? You may be surprised to learn that there are two different answers; in fact there are hundreds of different answers if we consider the millions of credit card seekers up and down the country. Why might this be so? Surely a good deal is a good deal.

The main reason is that we may only be eligible for certain card deals due to our financial circumstances.

For example a 40-year-old homeowner with a good income and a clean credit history will instil confidence in potential lenders and allow them to offer a low rate of interest because of the lower perceived risk.

On the other hand, someone without all of these factors in their favour will find it harder to get such a competitive deal, and as the negative factors mount up (unemployment, missed payments, CCJs etc.), so will the interest rates, joining fees and possibly the need for a guarantor or some form of collateral.

For those of us who are somewhere along the centre of this range, we should not find it hard to get credit but to find the best credit card deal it will certainly pay to spend some time looking at what is available. When you see the rate advertised as a "typical APR", that will be the rate given to our above-mentioned Mr Clean. The only way you'll find out exactly what rate you will pay is to make an application and let the credit rating agencies do their work. This is why we can each find our own "best credit card deal", but the chances are it won't be the same as your neighbour's.